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Most people can use a bit of good fashion advice. Joel Weingarten
realized that by combining a fashion recommendation from a
trusted friend or family member with the power of social
media, he could empower people to become entrepreneurs.

Weingarten traces the roots of StyleOwner back to his high school days,
when he and a friend sold flowers off a truck to friends,
family and neighbors. "I understood the power of direct
marketing from a young age, and I saw StyleOwner as an
opportunity to pursue a personal dream to start a business,"
he says. "As for my fashion savvy, I have an amazing team and
leave most of the fashion advice up to them."

The New York-based startup, launched in October 2011, lets users
create an online boutique and personalize it for their social
network by curating from a catalog of more than 2,000 brands,
including some from big-name retail partners like Saks Fifth
Avenue and Nordstrom (think Pinterest meets online
department store). Boutique owners--or "stylepreneurs," as
they're called on the site--provide friends with customized
recommendations and make a 10 percent commission on each sale.

"We're allowing people to monetize their online sphere of
influence by coming to our site and, at no cost, building out a
store that matches their personal sense of style and aesthetic,"
Weingarten says. The former robotics educator explains how he's
changing the face of online shopping.

What innovations have you brought to
e-commerce?
We feel like we're the first true social selling platform. Sure,
social shopping is everywhere, but there's nothing that's
actually allowing people to become entrepreneurs and sell to
their social network. When you do true social selling, you get a
really important byproduct: the personalization of the e-commerce
experience.

When you think about it, fashion, beauty and accessories shopping
with your friends in the real world is very social. That
experience online is individual and impersonal. That's what leads
to the majority of online shopping carts being abandoned, and
only one in 30 people who go to a dot-com site actually buying
something. If you go shopping with your best friend in a retail
store and get to the dressing room, there's an 85 percent chance
you'll make a purchase.

How did you raise nearly $2 million in
funding?
It was really important for me to find investors who would be
partners and help me understand the connection between the
fashion and tech worlds. First we did a $188,000 raise from six
people, some in the fashion industry. With that we built a
prototype. We then leveraged the prototype to secure the $2
million raise.

What is your business model?
When a customer places an order, it gets sent to our branding
retail partners, and they ship the product directly to the
customer. Then our branding retail partners pay us a commission
and we share it.

We give 10 percent [of the purchase price] back to the store
owner. So we make money off of every transaction.

Why would someone want to buy from an individual rather
than a retailer?
For one, our prices are exactly the same as the brand or retailer
that the product comes from. But on top of that, we feel our
value proposition to the customer is twofold: One, you get a
personalized, curated experience; two, you're supporting the
store of someone you trust.

Shopping on StyleOwner is like having a personal shopper. People
with personal shoppers spend five times as much money, on
average. Our store owners can create collections for specific
friends and chat with their customers in real time and tell them,
"Hey, you're going to look great in that pair of jeans; they're
perfect for the event you have next weekend."

How does StyleOwner ensure the product goes out as
promised?
We're very transparent about where the product is coming from. We
partner with amazing brands that have great customer service and
return policies. When you buy something on StyleOwner, it says,
for example, "This item is being shipped by Saks, here's the
return policy, and here's the phone number for customer service."
If at any point there's a problem with the service a customer is
receiving from our brand partners, they can call us, and we'll
handle it.

What's StyleOwner's philanthropic
connection?
We've partnered with 10 amazing charities so far, like the
Make-A-Wish Foundation and Women In Need. We feel that StyleOwner
is a fantastic fundraising platform. With one click, store owners
can choose to donate a portion (or all) of their proceeds to one
of our philanthropic partners. If you're going to build a
community, it's important to give back to that community.